Becket (1964), directed by Peter Glenville from Edward Anhalt’s insufferable script, adapted from a so-so Jean Anouilh play, was wildly overrated in its day. For some reason (Peter O’Toole’s Best Actor nomination, perhaps), the film is being re-released; it starts this Friday at the Kendall Square. Two of the British Isles’ most talented but erratic stars are on a hammy holiday: Irishman Peter O’Toole as the spoiled-brat Norman king, Henry II, and Welshman Richard Burton as the slightly more honorable Saxon (in real life also a Norman), Thomas à Becket. Once profligate friends, the pals become enemies when Becket turns, unconvincingly, into a sour churchman. O’Toole screams a lot, Burton does brooding soliloquies. For 148 minutes.
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Family. We spend lifetimes breaking away from them, forging our own path, only to discover it leads back to the same place.
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Two trends are currently sweeping through the food universe: lavishly upscale steak houses and modest bistros featuring local produce.
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Who knew that Matthew Vaughn had an inner Narnia?
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Perhaps the dream of every hard-living British acting legend is to live long enough to play the role of a hard-living British acting legend and win an Oscar for it. Watch the trailer for Venus (QuickTime)
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Everything you wanted to know about the year in music, in tidy lists of 10.
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With no ado, here are some of the last year’s theatrical highlights.
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As much as I lament the continuing decline of attendance at the cineplex, it’s also easy to understand.
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Facebook and MySpace represent the easiest and most efficient method of assessing compatibility for a friend, a potential hook-up, or a presidential candidate.
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, Politics, Culture and Lifestyle, Armed Forces, Richard Burton, History, World History, World Politics, Peter O'Toole, French Politics, Sami Bouajila, Less
